SV Inscrutable – Pacific Ocean, Port Townsend to San Francisco

After a quick stop in Port Townsend we continued our journey south, making our way through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a body of water about 96 miles long that is the Salish Sea’s main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre of the Strait.

As we set off towards the Pacific Ocean, we past Neah Bay, our last glimpse of land for the next week or so, and made the ‘Big Left Turn’ just before 23:00 on Aug 21.  This is a reference to when a boat gets to the westernmost end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, you turn left, and go as far south as you want. 

August 21, 2024 was my first overnight sail. Alex having many more years of experience had the opportunity of this thrilling experience many times before. Taking turns manning the helm, we had a schedule of 3 hrs on, 3 off. I did the midnight to 3am shift that evening. I must say the evening was amazing and much more than I had even imagined. So magical.

We had dolphins swimming with us for over an hour for sure and was the perfect send off as we sailed toward our next destination – San Francisco. Estimated arrival 8 days.

The next fews days were calm seas, sunny weather but No Wind 🙁 We ended up motoring a good portion of the first 3 days as the sails were crashing against the mast and the potential for more damage. It seemed we needed at least 7kts of wind to keep the sails from flopping about. Who would have thought less than 5 kts out in the Pacific.

The calm seas and pleasant weather aloud time for reading, fixing sails, baking and lots of napping. Can’t complain there!

Sunsets and the stars at night are so spectacular and ever so different each day.

And the dolphins…. never gets old. We have had multiple visits, pods swimming towards and with us. At night with the addition of the phosphorescents, its a beautiful sight.

Running before the wind, on our third day at sea the winds picked up and we were cruising through the water at an average of 7kts under sunny skies. Such a good day it was as Alex hooked a 14lbs albacore tuna for dinner that night. Seared it up with a side salad… oh so fresh!

We were at sea for 6 days before arriving at the Port of San Francisco.

Next post coming soon:  Under The Bridge…. stay tuned!

Juan de Fuca Strait

Juan de Fuca Strait

Submarine in Strait of Juan de Fuca

Submarine just outside of Anacortes

Submarine in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Submarine photos taken with the onocular gifted to us from my aunt & uncle. 

War ship - Strait of Juan de Fuca

Warship in the Juan de Fuca – photo taken with onocular.

Alex making some repairs to the main sail

Alex making some repairs to the main sail.

Reading Time!

Both Alex and I read 1.5 books during our first 3 days at sea.  Ahh, so relaxing!

Fresh bread.. mmm good!

Fresh bread.. mmm good!

Pacific Ocean

Alex inspecting the recent repairs. Looking good!

Sunset first night out at sea
Sunset first night out at sea
Sunset first night out at sea
First night shift for Heather

Discover more from SV INSCRUTABLE

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.